CANBERRA, May 1 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures rose on Wednesday as traders assessed the likely impact on supply amid dry weather conditions in key growing regions of Russia and the United States.
Soybean futures fell for a second day, dragged lower by a sharp decline in soyoil prices and a strengthening dollar, which pressured U.S. farm goods by making them more expensive for importers. Corn was flat.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.6% at $6.06-3/4 a bushel, as of 0039 GMT, while CBOT soybeans were down 0.4% at $11.58-3/4 a bushel and corn was flat at $4.46-3/4 a bushel.
* All three contracts fell to four-year lows earlier this year due to plentiful supply and the accumulation of large bearish bets by speculative investors anticipating lower prices.
* Concerns that dryness would hit crops in the southern U.S. Plains wheat belt and in southern Russia pushed CBOT wheat to a four-month high of $6.33-1/4 on Friday, with speculators forced to cover some of their short positions.
* But forecasts this week have predicted some rainfall in Russia in the coming days, pushing prices off their highs, and large exports from Russia continue.
* Weather risks "should provide some underlying support to the market, but traders still lack justification for sustaining the rally as long as Russia pushes cheap wheat through its ports at a record pace," said StoneX analyst Arlan Suderman in a note.
* The most-traded soyoil contract on the CBOT has fallen by around 6% this week amid heavy deliveries and weak demand from the biofuels industry. SBO/DEL
* Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect the U.S. soybean crush to have increased in March to a record-high 6.180 million short tons, or 205.965 million bushels.
* In Argentina, a major soy exporter, oilseed sector workers lifted a two-day strike after the lower house of Congress approved contentious reforms backed by President Javier Milei. The strike had held up shipments of soy, corn and wheat.
* The U.S. dollar moved back towards last month's 5-1/2-month highs against a basket of currencies, making dollar-priced commodities costlier for non-U.S. buyers.
* Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn, soybean, wheat, soymeal and soyoil futures on Tuesday, traders said, adding that broad weakness in commodities including metals and crude oil added to the negative sentiment in grains.
MARKETS NEWS
* Due to a public holiday in several markets on Wednesday, May 1, there was no Reuters global markets report during Asian hours. On Tuesday, U.S. equity markets closed sharply lower, joining their global counterparts in a monthly loss.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
